Sinmoo Hapkido & Meditation - World Hapkido Union News

Sinmoo Hapkido & Meditation
This is an intent to formulate a clear vision of what traditional Korean meditation is and
how it can be taught in Sinmoo Hapkido (신무 합기도, 신武 合氣道), in a way that both fits
westerner culture and Doju-Nim (도주님, 道主님) Ji Han Jae’s teaching legacy.

The need for going back to Korean meditation’s roots
The inclusion of meditation is one of the big differences between pre-1983 Hapkido and
Sinmoo Hapkido. Doju-Nim Ji included it for two main reasons:
- He himself had learned Korean meditation under Lee Do Sa (도사, 道師) and Hal Ma Nee;
- He wanted to upgrade Hapkido from a solely combat art to a holistic art that combines
martial training, mind development and health care.
Doju-Nim made a great deal of effort to adapt the traditional Korean teachings, which he
had received in an ascetic fashion, to the westerner mindset, and this should not be
overlooked. However, it has to be admitted that his meditation teaching was still very
difficult to fully understand, due to its ascetic features, resulting in a very small number of
his students actually practicing meditation on a regular basis, and a quite confidential
meditational aspect of Sinmoo Hapkido.
Nowadays, Sinmoo meditation is most of the time misunderstood, either because its
importance is underestimated, or because it is mistakenly associated to a cult. It is of
great importance that the World Hapkido Union solves this issue, so that Doju-Nim’s
legacy is fully preserved, not only in its combative aspect, but also in its meditational
dimension.

The approach we propose
Fortunately, traditional Korean meditation has been taught in Korea outside Sinmoo
Hapkido, under the name “Kouk Sun Do” (Kukseondo, 국선도, 國仙道), and Nicolas Tacchi
had the chance to learn it from Beopsa-Nim (법사님, 法師님) Kim Hyun Moon, student of a
taoist monk. Doju-Nim immediately confirmed that Kouk Sun Do and Sinmoo Hapkido
meditation were the same. Indeed, the purpose, theoretical background and high level
skills are the same in both disciplines, and only their pedagogies differ. From the historical
viewpoint, Kukseon is a legendary denomination for Baekje’s elite warriors, as Samrang
is, which makes Kouk Sun Do and Samrang-do Tekgi two branches of the same lineage.
However, Beopsa-Nim’s taoist Master decided not to teach the combatives aspects of
Kouk Sun Do because he wanted to spread the art for public health, and not for martial
arts development. On the contrary, Doju-Nim initially focused on the combative aspect
and incorporated Samrang-do meditation mostly after 1983.
While Sinmoo meditation is taught mostly in an ascetic way to senior practitioners and
includes a small number of either beginner or high level exercises, Kouk Sun Do has long
ago been designed for civilians, with a deep, step by step progression that includes body
conditioning, breathing exercises and meditation skills.
However, in the end, the purposes of Sinmoo meditation and Kouk Sun Do are the same:
they both aim at improving the practitioner’s overall health and preventing body injuries
by unifying mind, body and spirit (we will come back to this point later on). More
importantly, the theoretical principles of both arts are the same, coming from traditional
Korean culture, which we will review in this work.

Sinmoo Hapkido meditation existing pedagogy
We want to make things as clear as possible: we do not intend to change the content of
Sinmoo meditation at all, but only to complement it with a more progressive pedagogy.
Preserving Doju-Nim Ji Han Jae’s legacy is the number one condition for proper
meditation development in the World Hapkido Union. We first give an overview of Doju-
Nim’s teachings in the field of meditation.

Meditation exercises

  •   The only meditation exercise that already existed in Sung Moo Kwan Hapkido is
      known as hap ki beop (합기법, 合氣法), or danjeon hoheup (단전 호흡, 丹⽥ 呼吸), or
      lower breathing: In horseman posture, inhale while bringing hands to the hips, then
      block the breathing and press the abdomen, and eventually exhale while pushing
      both hands forward (or upward, or downward, or sideward), until the arms are
      nearly straight. This exercise was complemented with organ visualization in Sinmoo
      Hapkido.
  •   The basic focus meditation exercise, the only one that is taught to beginners, is a
      variant of mong nyeom (몽념, 夢念), consisting of a two minutes meditation where
      the practitioner sits in half lotus position, with the hands facing each other (right
      hand below navel, left hand above) and counts slowly from 100 to 0.
  •   Then one directly proceeds to high level meditation myeong sang (명想, 冥想), that
      includes mantra meditation, mudra meditation, visualization meditation and long
      lasting meditation (at least 45 minutes of sitting meditation).

Most of these exercises are classical in Korean meditation (apart from hap ki beop which
is specific to Hapkido), sometimes with small variations.

Meditation theory

The theory of Sinmoo meditation is summed up in the famous “9 rules”, that are
complemented with detailed mind-body-spirit teachings as well as conduct advices that
aim at controlling one’s emotions. Here we only give a reminder of how the 9 rules are
organized.
  •   Physical rules (Confucianist body control):
      - Healthy food
      - Healthy sex
      - Healthy meditation
  •   Mental rules (Buddhist mind discipline):
      - Suppress anger
      - Suppress sadness
      - Suppress greed
  •   Spiritual rules (Zen ki development):
      - Control water drinking
      - Control breathing
      - Control light exposure
While this way of organizing and teaching body-mind-spirit discipline is specific to
Sinmoo Hapkido, its core is the traditional Korean jeong-ki-shin (정-기-신, 精-氣-神) triad,
which is also the core of the meditation curriculum we propose. However, some esoteric
aspects of the nine rules are difficult to integrate, and those rules should at least be
reorganized, without changing the taught content, but by making them more accessible to
westerners, for instance by highlighting the medical and psychological aspects of the
proposed teachings.

Traditional Korean meditation theory
Traditional Korean meditation draws on Asian medicine principles to formulate its theory.
Those principles can be found in both Cheonbukyeong (천부경, 天苻經) and Samilsingo (삼
일신고, 三⼀신誥), two mystic books that formulate traditional Korean philosophy. Those
principles also exist in Sinmoo Hapkido meditation theory. They are known as the Way
(Do, 도, 道, as in Hapki-do), Duality (between Eum-Yang, 음양, 陰陽), the Triad (jeong-ki-
shin, often mistranslated as body-mind-spirit), the Organs (related to the 5 elements
wood-fire-earth-metal-water theory).

The Way

Myeongsa-Nim (명사님, 名師님) Choi Yong Sul first called his art Yu Kwon Sul (유권술, 柔拳
術). Before stabilizing to Hapkido (합기도, 合氣道), it was also called Hap Ki (Yu Kwon) Sul
(합기 유권술, 合氣 柔拳術). Doju-Nim Ji Han Jae taught that he was the one who decided
to use the term Do for the art, making it a Way (Do, 도, 道), rather than a technique (Sul,
술, 術). This was the first step of Hapkido from a solely combat system to a complete
martial art including philosophy. The fundamental practical difference between a Sul and
a Do is the introduction of meditation. Korean meditation emphasizes Jeong Do (정도, 正
道), the Righteous Way, which means the research for a proper way of practicing
meditation.

                               道

Eum-Yang duality

Eum-Yang (음양) duality, known in Japanese as In-Yo (いん-よう) and in Chinese as Yin-
Yang (陰陽), has always been central to Korean and Japanese Hapki arts: one of the most
ancient Japanese ancestors of Aiki Jujutsu 合氣柔術 (which rooted both Aikido 合氣道
and Hapkido 합기도) was known as Aiki In-Yo Ho, 合氣陰陽法. While in Aikido eum-yang
mostly represents duality and non-opposing between attacker and defender, between self
and others, in Hapkido its meaning is different. Indeed, in Korean martial arts the duality
exists more between the striking (yang) and grappling (eum) aspects of combatives, in
Sinmoo Hapkido it is central as duality between martial wae gong (외공, 外功) training
(yang) and nae gong (내공, 內功) meditation (eum), and it appears everywhere in traditional
meditation, for instance between inhaling (yang) and exhaling (eum). In Korean tradition,
eum-yang duality is represented by the taegeuk (태극, 太極) which appears on the Korean
flag. It is at the origin of the eight trigrams (palgwae, 팔괘, ⼋卦), from which are inspired
the World Taekwondo poomsaes.

Jeong-Ki-Shin triad

The Jeong-ki-shin (정-기-신, 精-氣-神) triad is fundamental in both Sinmoo Hapkido and
traditional Korean culture in general. Sinmoo Hapkido draws its philosophical principles
from Korean Samilsingo. Go (고, 誥) means treatise or book; Sin (신, an ancient sino-
korean term without corresponding modern hanja character) means the “higher mind” as
in Sinmoo Hapkido; Sam (삼, 三) means three as in Sam Rang (삼랑, 三郞), and Il (일, ⼀)
means one. Samilsingo translates as “the metaphysical treatise to unify the three
components of human”. In Samilsingo, these three components are called Samjin (삼진, 三
眞) and consist of:
- The eum human element, essence (jeong, 정, 精), whose altered form is the body (shin,
  신, 身) and whose attributes are the senses (chok, 촉, 觸),
- The neutral human element, life (myeong, 명, 命), whose altered form is energy (ki, 기,
  氣) and whose attribute is the breath (sik, 식, 息),
- The yang human element, personality (seong, 성, 性), whose altered form is the mind
  (sim, 심, ⼼) and whose attributes are the emotions (gam, 감, 感).
These samjin are also implicitly mentioned in the Cheonbukyeong (천부경, 天苻經) as
generated from the eum-yang duality - eum and yang being respectively represented by
the earth (ji, 지, 地 or gon, 곤, 坤), and sky (cheon, 천, 天 or keon, 건, 乾) - by introducing a
third, balanced and neutral pole between eum and yang (represented by the human, in,
인, ⼈). The jeong-ki-shin triad is a more commonly used representation of these three
components, with less esoteric features than the samjin.

The eum component of human is jeong (정, 精), sometimes referred to as “the essence of
the kidneys”; it represents the source of all matter and energy in the body, and is often
related with adrenaline (which is produced by the adrenal gland, at the level of the
kidneys) by Doju-Nim Ji. According to Asian tradition, the jeong has to be nurtured
through eating proper food, preserved from depletion through proper sex, and cultivated
through proper meditation exercise, which is the reason for the three Sinmoo body rules.
However, in the western culture, sex is a strictly private dimension of human life and as
such it is not suitable to teach sex recommendations in martial arts, while it is completely
legitimate to recommend healthy food and meditation practice. For this reason, we
suggest to enlarge the discipline to avoid jeong depletion as follows: in general, jeong
depletion is caused by all sorts of addictions which perturbate the metabolism and are a
form of submission to the senses; thus, recommending to avoid addictions in general
seems more appropriate than interfering in the practitioner’s intimate life. After being
accumulated in the kidneys, jeong is channeled into the lower danjeon (단전, 丹⽥,
Japanese: hara, Chinese: dan tian), which is located 4 fingers below the navel and at a 3
fingers depth, to produce energy. Total jeong depletion means death. Aging is associated
with the decrease in non-regenerable prenatal jeong, with symptoms such as muscle
loss, osteoporosis or cancer. Thus, longevity practices give a great importance to
cultivating jeong.

The yang component of human is shin (신, 神), often translated as “spirit”, in
psychological, philosophical and religious meanings, and sometimes used to spell
Sinmoo Hapkido in hanja on a computer, due to its similarity with the ancient caracter for
Sin in Samilsingo. Shin represents all mental processes. It is produced in the middle
danjeon, which is located in the chest, and then channeled into the higher danjeon, the
“Third Eye” that Doju-Nim Ji often mentions in his teachings. The weakening of shin
causes neuro-degenerative diseases such as Parkinson, Alzheimer, or sclerosis. On the
contrary, a strong shin is able to control itself and all three components of the human
being, allowing for their full potential development.

The neutral component of human is ki (기, 氣), as in Hap-ki-do. It is an everchanging
mixture of eum and yang energies, which has to be balanced at all times. Ki is formed
from jeong in the lower danjeon by breathing; it then circulates through the body, along all
acupuncture meridians, and ends its course in the middle danjeon; there it is transformed
into shin to fuel the mental functions of the body. Ki represents all dynamical processes in
the body. As such, it has to circulate with as little blockage as possible. In traditional
Korean meditation, pain is often interpreted as a symptom for a blockage in ki circulation,
and an unbalanced ki induces an unbalanced immune system, leading to a variety of
infections and immune illnesses. In Asian martial arts, ki is the mechanical efficiency of
the practitioner’s movements and stances, related to leverage effects and gravity center
position.

Roughly speaking, jeong represents physical life force, ki represents bio-mechanical
energy, and shin represents mind power. One can see the human as a candle: jeong is the
wick and the wax (material base for the body), ki is the flame (which needs oxygen to
burn), and shin is the light it produces. If the wax, wick or flame are not good then the
candle produces little light; on the contrary, a high quality candle will produce a bright
light. This metaphor highlights the crucial importance of each component of the jeong-ki-
shin triad for the full human development as taught by Doju-Nim.
The jeong-ki-shin triad appears on the traditional Korean sam taegeuk symbol (see supra).

Cultivation of jeong is the first step of traditional Korean meditation; it is performed
through body conditioning postures and slow breathing (10 seconds breathing cycles).
Cultivation and circulation of ki immediately follows, with lower danjeon breathing and ki
circulating exercises and self-massages. Eventually, cultivation of shin is performed
though deep meditation and visualization exercises. Contrary to the image given by zazen
meditation, in order to make true progress in the whole meditational practice, it is
necessary to first go through body conditioning exercises that are very different from
martial arts body conditioning: martial body conditioning consists of sharpening one’s
bones and muscles to improve the efficiency of one’s strikes and throws, while meditation
body conditioning consists of ridding oneself from jeong leaks and ki circulating
blockages. A striking example is sitting meditation: how could anyone focus on long,
deep meditation while sitting in half lotus posture, if one is not perfectly at ease in such
posture, or worse, if the half-lotus causes back pain and leg numbness? One first needs
to condition one’s body so that the half lotus is an easy posture to hold.
When all three components of the jeong-ki-shin triad are at their full potential, then they
can be unified (hap, 합, 合) through the ki (기, 氣) that links jeong and shin, which makes
them form the “higher mind” (sin, 신, 礻旬且, litteraly the spirit beyond the spirit). This is
the actual meaning of Sinmoo Hapkido as it was thought by Doju-Nim Ji Han Jae: “the
martial way by which the three human components unite to form the higher mind”, or
shortly: “the way of perfect mastership”. Korean meditation is a progressive path to
achieve this aim. Any other interpretation of the name “Hapkido” is unorthodox according
to Doju-Nim Ji Han Jae.

Five elements theory

References to the five elements are scarce in Sinmoo Hapkido, but they still exist through
references to internal organs. Indeed, the five elements principle associates to each
element a pair of internal organs: an eum organ and a yang organ. The list is as follows:
  •    Wood: liver (yang) and gallbladder (eum)
  •    Fire: heart (yang) and small intestine (eum)
  •    Earth: spleen (yang) and stomach (eum)
  •    Metal: lung (yang) and big intestine (eum)
  •    Water: kidney (yang) and bladder (eum)
Those five phases should be perfectly balanced; if one is stronger or weaker than the
others, then a disease occurs, linked to the corresponding organs (which explains the
specific food habits recommended by Doju-Nim, who associates to each element a food
that can be dangerous if consumed in excess). Asian tradition highlights two phase
cycles:
  •    Nurturing eum cycle: wood → fire → earth → metal → water → wood and so on
  •    Controlling yang cycle: wood → earth → water → fire → metal → wood and so on
The nurturing cycle is eum as the eum human component (jeong) nurtures the yang
component (shin) through ki. Conversely the controlling cycle is yang because it is the
shin that controls the jeong through ki.
Those five phases are also linked to seasons and cardinal directions. In Sinmoo Hapkido,
hap ki beop includes focus on organ groups that are classified in another way, but the
same principle applies. In traditional Korean meditation, a special exercise named ki shin
beop (기신법, 氣身法) has the function of specifically sending ki to each one of these ten
organs.

Proposal for redesigned 9 Principles of Sin Moo
Hapkido
A first step to make Doju-Nim’s 9 “rules” more acceptable consists of not calling them
rules that one has to follow, but rather principles that one can freely choose to apply to a
certain degree in one’s life. An adapted Korean wording is the concept of hoon (훈, 訓).
Indeed, such concept already exists in Hapkido and the 9 principles should only be seen
as an extension of this.

Existing principles in Hapkido
Do Hoon (도훈, 道訓)

Do hoon rules a martial artist’s morals through the formula do’eui-rye (도의-례, 道義-禮),
which translates as « be righteous and courteous ». Indeed, do’eui denotes morals and
righteousness, while rye is the Korean word for etiquette.

Kwan Hoon (관훈, 館訓)

Kwan hoon is the motivational motto of Korean martial arts. Its statement is ji-in-kang (지-
인-강, 志-忍-強), which means that « strong will, endurance and effort » are the key to
Hapkido mastery. Ji is the will, in is the endurance or patience, and kang is the effort.

              道義禮
              志忍強

Proposition for 9 principles in Sin Moo
We propose to reorganize Ji Han Jae’s 9 rules in a systematic way that is freed from its
most esoteric aspects while still supporting all three dimensions of the jeong-ki-shin triad.
Each one of these three aspects has 3 precepts (which makes again 9 precepts), that are
organized as follows: first, a precept to seek positive input; then, a precept to avoid
negative input, finally, a training precept.

Jeong Hoon (정훈, 精訓)

Here are three principles inspired from the Sinmoo Hapkido body discipline

1) Eat well; no food is forbidden, and none is mandatory, this precept is only a
   recommendation to be careful with one’s food habits, as any professional athlete is
   advised to be by his doctor and nutrition coach.

2) Avoid all forms of addictions (smoking, drugs, alcoholism, hypersexuality, screens,
   chatter…), following the recommendations of western medicine; this discipline is
   enforced by the practitioner alone, without interference of the instructor.

3) Practice body conditioning exercises such as soft stretching, muscle strengthening
   and posture meditation; Doju-Nim only mentions meditation in his rule, but we divide
   meditation into three aspects and here we only focus on posture meditation.

Ki Hoon (기훈, 氣訓)

Here are three principles inspired from the Sinmoo Hapkido spiritual discipline

1) Balance active and resting periods; again inspired by western medicine and fitness
   coaching, we advise the practitioner to sleep well (not too much) and take pauses
   during and between training sessions, in order to allow the body to restaure its ki.

2) Take care of your surroundings to avoid bad exterior influences; this includes Doju-
   Nim’s light, water and air control, as well as taking care of one’s relationships, and
   also having a proper training environment (clean and tidy).

3) Practice ki circulating exercises; this is another form of meditation, and it is well
   known in Hapkido, under the form of danjeon hoheup, and in traditional Korean
   meditation, under the form of ki shin beop.

Shin Hoon (신훈, 神訓)

Here are three principles inspired from the Sinmoo Hapkido mind discipline

1) Cultivate the intellect; empathy (jeong shim), lucidity (jeong shi), personal growth
   (jeong gak), structured learning (jeong do) and virtuous behavior (jeong haeng) are the
   pillars of a healthy mind.

2) Fight against bad emotions; following the mental teachings of Doju-Nim, we highlight
   the toxic influence of bad emotions (anger, sadness and greed, but also
   discouragement, pride, jealousy…) on one’s mental health.

3) Practice sitting meditation; the last but most well-known meditation is sitting
   meditation, in which one calms the mind and trains the spirit, the shin, to get rid of all
   its limitations and use its full potential for a better life.

Conclusion
While Sinmoo Hapkido and Kouk Sun Do are seemingly two distinct disciplines, they both
carry on the same traditional Korean meditation legacy. Training exercises from Kouk Sun
Do can successfully fill the gap that exists today between Sin Moo Hapkido meditation
theory and practical implementation, for all those who wish to do so and learn the true
traditional meditation Doju-Nim Ji started to pass on. This document is open for
publication but it is only words on paper: the true wealth of Korean meditation can only be
experienced through actual practice on a regular basis. Theory is interesting for
intellectual purposes, but it is unnecessary in practice. Only experimenting Korean
meditation and its effects on overall health can show how deep and rich this tradition is.